DID YOU READ

10 shows that need a Kickstarter campaign

Last week the cast and crew of “Veronica Mars” proved that you don’t need big studio support if you have a devoted fan base. The show has raised over 3.5 million dollars on the donation site Kickstarter.com to produce their own feature-length film. Since then, rallying calls have gone through the Internet to round up the troops of fans for several cult-followed television series that ended before their time. The “Mars” campaign will inevitably start a new trend of fan decided features, giving new life to old favorites and potentially a new revenue source outside of ratings dependent networks. So get out your wallets because IFC has put together a list of 10 shows that could use the fan push to the big screen (or most likely stream directly online).

1. “Pushing Daisies” (ABC, 2007-2009)

As soon as showrunner Bryan Fuller found out about the “Mars” campaign he was on the phone to his agent asking if he could do the same for his dark comedy “Pushing Daisies.” The show was initially a hit on ABC when it first premiered in 2007, receiving a full-season order in the fall but became a victim of the WGA strike that same winter. The show ended its first season with a cliffhanger at the end of the ninth episode instead of completing its ordered 22-episode arc. The shortened season wasn’t enough to gather ratings steam to make it through a second season and it was cancelled with three episodes still waiting to be aired. However, PD has nurtured a committed fan base – many of which fell in love with the show after it went off the air – and Fuller has shown an interest in any avenue that may get “Pushing Daisies” more screen time. This show is probably the most likely of the list to follow in the “Veronica Mars” footsteps, but considering the complex visual elements of the show, PD will need a lot more than 3.5 million to actually get off the ground.

2. “Chuck” (NBC, 2007-2012)

The ultimate nerd super-agent comedy made it five seasons on NBC before bowing it’s head last February, but it’s another one that felt like it ended before fans were ready to say goodbye. “Chuck” star Zachary Levi spoke to EW.com shortly after “Mars” reached $2 million to say that he and co-star Yvonne Strahovski were definitely in for a full-length “Chuck” feature. There was no word on whether they’d definitely go through Kickstarter or other means (Levi’s side company Nerd Machine perhaps?) but there’s no doubt the fans would come out of the woodwork to find out what happens to Chuck and Sarah in a life post-The Intersect.

3. “Boy Meets World” (ABC, 1993-2000)

This is purely for nostalgia reasons. So what if there’s already a Disney spin-off with Cory and Topanga’s daughter. Is that enough? The show ended in the early 2000s with the John Adams High group moving to New York together, but we need to know happened between their move to the big apple and The Mattews part 2 settling down in suburban adulthood. Surely Mr. Feeny has another lesson to teach them. There must be another way for Shawn to struggle with the difference between his trailer park roots and affluent suburban circle. Maybe they could all cram into a station wag and travel the country Keroac style with Feeny was narrator. It doesn’t really matter as long as we can hear Eric yell “FEENAY. FEE-HEE-HEE-HEENAY” just one more time.

4. “Joan of Arcadia” (CBS, 2003-2005)

The teen-drama only lasted for two seasons, maybe because the title and premise of “young girl inspired by her visions of God” may have seemed too evangelist to bring in a mainstream audience. For those who watched though they found a smart, intense drama that tackled the typical high school troubles of a teenage girl while also dealing with faith and moral responsibility without being preachy. When the show was cancelled Amber Tamblyn (Joan) was quoted saying, “I’d rather be a on a good show that only runs two years than on a dumb show that’s a hit for like eight years,” which hopefully means she’d be ready to bring it back. Not to mention the show ended on the ultimate cliffhanger- with Joan about to face off against Satan himself incarnated by Wentworth Miller. What better place to start a movie than the ultimate good VS. evil showdown?

5. “Community” (NBC, 2010- present)

Though it’s still airing it’s fourth season, poor ratings have haunted the smart, critically acclaimed comedy from the start. It’s the only show on television that could pull off a Claymation Christmas special or an episode where the entire cast is forced into an 8-bit video game. Last spring chants of #SixSeasonsAndAMovie were heard all over the internet when creator Dan Harmon was ousted at the end of the third season and the show’s fate was left undetermined for weeks. It’s the type of show that harbors such an intense, dedicated fan base that it can be voted “TV Guide’s Fan Favorite” the same week it’s suspended mid-season. It’s obvious we can’t trust NBC to make the right call on this one, but the world would be amiss without a feature-length Jeff-and-the-Study-Group-save-Greendale feature. There needs to be a contract saying that Harmon helms the entire thing though, or else it’s blasphemy.

Celebrating Portlandia One Sketch at a Time

Most people measure time in minutes, hours, days, years…At IFC, we measure it in sketches. And nothing takes us way (waaaaaay) back like Portlandia sketches. Yes, there’s a Portlandia milepost from every season that changed the way we think, behave, and pickle things. In honor of Portlandia’s 8th and final season, Subaru presents a few of our favorites.

Artfully Off

Sisters Weekend isn’t like other comedy groups. It’s filmmaking collaboration between besties Angelo Balassone, Michael Fails and Kat Tadesco, self-described lace-front addicts with great legs who write, direct, design and produce video sketches and cinematic shorts that are so surreally hilarious that they defy categorization. One such short film, Celebrity All-Star, is the newest addition to IFC’s Comedy Crib. Here’s what they had to say about it in a very personal email interview…

IFC: How would you describe Celebrity All-Star to a fancy network executive you just met in an elevator?

Celebrity All-Star is a short film about an overworked reality TV coordinator struggling to save her one night off after the cast of C-List celebrities she wrangles gets locked out of their hotel rooms.

IFC: How would you describe Celebrity All-Star to a drunk friend of a friend you met in a bar?

Sisters Weekend: It’s this short we made for IFC where a talent coordinator named Karen babysits a bunch of weird c-list celebs who are stuck in a hotel bar. It’s everyone you hate from reality TV under one roof – and that roof leaks because it’s a 2-star hotel. There’s a magician, sexy cowboys, and a guy wearing a belt that sucks up his farts.

IFC: What was the genesis of Celebrity All-Star?

Celebrity All-Star was born from our love of embarrassing celebrities. We love a good c-lister in need of a paycheck! We were really interested in the canned politeness people give off when forced to mingle with strangers. The backstory we created is that the cast of this reality show called “Celebrity All-Star” is in the middle of a mandatory round of “get to know each other” drinks in the hotel bar when the room keys stop working. Shows like Celebrity Ghost Hunters and of course The Surreal Life were of inspo, but we thought it
was funny to keep it really vague what kind of show they’re on, and just focus on everyone’s diva antics after the cameras stop rolling.

IFC: Every celebrity in Celebrity All-Star seems familiar. What real-life pop personalities did you look to for inspiration?

Sisters Weekend: Mike grew up renting “Monty Python” tapes from the library and staying up late to watch 2000’s SNL, Kat was super into Andy Kaufman and “Kids In The Hall” in high school, and Angelo was heavily influenced by “Strangers With Candy” and Anna Faris in the Scary Movie franchise, so, our comedy heroes mesh from all over. But, also we idolize a lot of the people we work with in NY- Lorelei Ramirez, Erin Markey, Mary Houlihan, who are all in the film, Amy Zimmer, Ana Fabrega, Patti Harrison, Sam Taggart. Geniuses! All of Em!

IFC: What’s your favorite moment from the film?

Sisters Weekend: I mean…seeing Mary Houlihan scream at an insane Pomeranian on an iPad is pretty great.

IFC: To varying degrees, your sketches are simply scripted examples of things that actually happen. What makes real life so messed up?

Aurora: Hubris, Ego and Selfish Desires and lack of empathy.

Carolyn: That we’re trapped together in the 3rd Dimension.

Jenn: 1. Other people 2. Other people’s problems 3. Probably something I did.

IFC: A lot of people I know have watched this show and realized, “Dear god, that’s me.” or “Dear god, that’s true.” Why do people have their blinders on?

Aurora: Because most people when you’re in the middle of a situation, you don’t have the perspective to step back and see yourself because you’re caught up in the moment. That’s the job of comedians is to step back and have a self-awareness about these things, not only saying “You’re doing this,” but also, “You’re not the only one doing this.” It’s a delicate balance of making people feel uncomfortable and comforting them at the same time.

IFC: Unlike a lot of popular sketch comedy, your sketches often focus more on group dynamics vs iconic individual characters. Why do you think that is and why is it important?

Meredith: We consider the show to be more based around human dynamics, not so much characters. If anything we’re more attracted to the energy created by people interacting.

Jenn: So much of life is spent trying to work it out with other people, whether it’s at work, at home, trying to commute to work, or even on Facebook it’s pretty hard to escape the group.

IFC: Are there any comedians out there that you feel are just nailing it?

Aurora: I love Key and Peele. I know that their show is done and I’m in denial about it, but they are amazing because there were many times that I would imagine that Keegan Michael Key was in the scene while writing. If I could picture him saying it, I knew it would work. I also kind of have a crush on Jordan Peele and his performance in Big Mouth. Maya Rudolph also just makes everything amazing. Her puberty demon on Big Mouth is flawless. She did an ad for 7th generation tampons that my son, my husband and myself were singing around the house for weeks. If I could even get anything close to her career, I would be happy. I’m also back in love with Rick and Morty. I don’t know if I have a crush on Justin Roiland, I just really love Rick (maybe even more than Morty). I don’t have a crush on Jerry, the dad, but I have a crush on Chris Parnell because he’s so good at being Jerry.

IFC: If you could go back in time and cast yourselves in any sitcom, which would it be and how would it change?

Carolyn: I’d go back in time and cast us in The Partridge Family. We’d make an excellent family band. We’d have a laugh, break into song and wear ruffled blouses with velvet jackets. And of course travel to all our gigs on a Mondrian bus. I feel really confident about this choice.

Meredith: Electric Mayhem from The Muppet Show. It wouldn’t change, they were simply perfect, except… maybe a few more vaginas in the band.

Binge the entire first and second seasons of Baroness von Sketch Show now on IFC.com and the IFC app.